January Wisdom
To be fat and fallow
to increase in the decreasing hours of light with
the last sideways glance from summer’s face long gone,
to place around the darkened heart a vast expanse of stillness
and repose where even the molecules slow their spanish dance
in time to the slackening cadence of the dwindling days
while the barren soughing of the desert wind
teases away fullness and steals its seed
and the floating grey plate of clouds covers a dish of storms
soon to be served up cold and white; to know
small sapient beings in their dens beneath the sand
nonetheless grow fat in husbanded specks and grains
gleaned when the light was consuming the flowers with harmony;
to know that even a builder of flowers should find as much
in the stark empty stalks waving in the frozen light
as in the wild rioting colors and replications of their prime,
as much in the dead fruit of the arrow after the shaft has struck
as in the grace and strength of its arc, the cunning of the bow;
that wide black immensity should speak not of its swallowing,
but of what will eventually emerge;
all this is January wisdom.
January, 1992
Revised January, 2010
Photo : Oklahoma winter grass,
© joy ann jones
© joy ann jones
Holy catfish, this is an amazing poem! Very deep, January wisdom indeed. Fantastic writing! I love every word and line.
ReplyDeletei like the molecules slowing their spanish dance - so true for january..
ReplyDeletehappy new year joy ann
I love this poem. It's a beautiful rendering of the wisdom of the seasons -- and what winter knows will be coming. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteI like the grey plate over a dish of storms served cold and white. Yeah. Likin' that a lot.
ReplyDeleteJanuary wisdom indeed.
Some brilliant imagery here - deep winter is a time of renewal. I loved this image "To place around the darkened heart a vast expanse of stillness
ReplyDeleteAnd repose where even the molecules slow their spanish dance"
As dark ass it might be a season as any other , so necessary to enoy hank and LIVE the light of another
ReplyDeletegreat poem for this silent day 1
I will be re-reading this...the flow and the imagery of January's wisdom is just beautiful...even though chill...
ReplyDeleteSensed a tone of hope and acceptance for change in your poem. So many great lines revealing a reflective wisdom projecting through earth. Happy New Year, hedgewitch!
ReplyDeletei can see why you pulled this one back out...was brilliant....thanks for sharing and happy new year pete
ReplyDelete